Teach students to use a spreadsheet software program. Show them how to organize data and predict trends.
Have students run whatever experiment or data-gathering project you would usually have them do at this point in the curriculum. For example, they may be testing probability, growing plants under various conditions or conducting a survey of their classmates' favorite activities.
Have students input the data they find into a spreadsheet before they construct any graphs. If they were doing experiments that lend themselves to extrapolation, such as plant growth experiments, have them predict the numbers they would see if they were to continue the experiment for an additional week, five weeks and 10 weeks.
Tell students to use their spreadsheets to help them construct graphs. If they were doing research surveys, they can organize their data on the spreadsheet to make it easier to make a bar graph; they can use their extrapolations to draw line graphs for time-sensitive experiments; they can put like results together on spreadsheets when testing probability, making it easier to construct a pie graph.
Ask students to present their findings to the class. Have them explain whether they found their spreadsheet useful. If so, ask them whether it was useful as a step in the process of making a graph or whether they found that the spreadsheet itself was the clearest way to present their data.